Our Mission Statement:"To be the most dedicated, loyal and fearsome warriors in battle. And to support our fellow warriors with encouragement, companionship and compassion in the face of all adversity. Our primary mission is to ensure peace, tranquility and harmony for all residents of the Castle."

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The Way of the Warrior at the Castle and Beyond

"the Castle's Bushido"

1. Sacred Combat and Respect: In Aikido and other Eastern martial arts, you always bow to your opponent, as a way of expressing what your soul would like to declare: “I honor and respect you as a worthy opponent, and value the opportunity to learn and grow through this combat with you.” Honor and respect your fellow warriors but honor and respect your opponents even more for the opportunity to learn and grow.

2. Uncompromising Integrity: A warrior’s character and his/her honor are steadfast. And his/her word is bond.

3. Serve: A true warrior serves with honor on and off the battlefield.

4. Excellence: Excel as warriors through discipline and relentless will.

5. Preparation: Constantly train for battle and fight to win. Failure is never an option for the warrior. Be ready to lead at a moment’s notice.

6. Reality: A warrior is always grounded in reality. A superficial warrior cannot see how things happen, even though the evidence is everywhere. But a warrior who is centered, conscious, and grounded in reality always has the deeper understanding. The ferocious dog bites the excited warrior. The conscious and centered warrior walks by unharmed. Being centered means having the ability to recover one’s balance. A centered warrior is simply not subject to passing whims or sudden excitements.

7. Kindness: It is a known fact that the greatest martial arts are also the gentlest. They allow an adversary to fall down gently. A great warrior also does not rush into every battle. A great warrior offers his adversaries the opportunity to make crucial self-defeating errors.

8. Live in the present: A warrior has reconciled the past, prepares for the future, but remains firmly entrenched in the present moment. A warrior does not see present experiences in the light of past experiences. Seeing the present through the eyes of the past is a way of remaining in the world of illusion. This is akin to viewing a sunset. Each one is different from the ones before it. Comparing the one being viewed now with past sunsets may detract from a warrior’s ability to fully experience it.

9. Reflection: A warrior has to be able to analyze him/herself objectively and to think in a rational manner when engaging in a discussion and be willing to admit his/her own mistakes.

10. Awakening: chillax with your fellow warriors at the Castle. trying to be too flashy suggests instability. Rushing to judgement gets you nowhere fast. Promoting yourself reveals your insecurity. A wise warrior knows that trying to appear brilliant is certainly not enlightened. In his book, Shambala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, Chogyam Trungpa defines warrior as "one who is brave". Bravery, among many things, also involves a willingness to let your defenses be exposed so we can open more fully to life. In Trungpa`s words, discovering fearlessness comes from working with the softness of the heart. So in that spirit, resolve to chillax, learn, and grow stronger from your interactions with your fellow warriors at the castle.

11. Alliance of the Warriors: Consider yourself, each of you, as a warrior with only one wing. And you can only fly if you embrace each other. This is consistent with what the great warrior king, king Leonidas, also believed. He said that in the final analysis, we are only as good as the warrior next to us.

When two warriors move in the same direction, they forge a much deeper bond, based on encouraging each other to honor the sacred presence and basic goodness within them. This often proves to be an unbeatable combination in any battle. Then and only then can these warriors really appreciate their connection for what it is---an alliance of warriors. The castle is an alliance of warriors.

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A Warrior Is Born

Outside the walls of safety’s reach
A veil of black prevents to see
Alone and Heart Pounding
Thoughts racing and surrounding

Spears can come and pierce your flesh
Rain will pour and drain your will
However a chance remains still
So you knock on the door
And so it opens some more

Inside the stone
Much harder than bone
With friends, not alone
A warrior’s been born

- please submit your prediction of the winner of each match in the daily OOP once it's posted in this thread AND PM me with your prediction list as well, submissions are not accepted once the first match of the day has started.

- you are allowed to edit your post as long as the first match hasn't started yet.

- your participation will be nullified if your post has been edited after the start of the first match for any reason (even typo).

- post the full score of the matches chosen under the "tie-break matches" tag, these scores decide the winner in case two contestants were tied.

- the score is decided in the following manner (according to order of priority) :

note: only the top 8 warriors in the race will be allowed to participate in the World Tour Finals (WTF) PWC at the end of the season, if more than 8 people qualified (ex. 2 1st place, 4 2nd place, 4 3rd place) , I'll hold a special PWC to determine the ones who qualify for PWC WTF around the end of the season.

do your best and climb up the rankings on your way to glory!

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Castle Contests Relief Fund (CCRF)

as members of the Castle know, we hold vcash prediction contests named Prediction Warriors Contest (PWC) for the big tournaments on a daily basis, and we give vcash awards to the winner(s) everyday, to allow the competitions to run smoothly we now announce that the Castle accepts donations for the cause, feel free to donate to me "habibko" and your name will be added to the donators list "Hall of Fame" in this post, thanks in advance, we appreciate your help

current total vcash in CCRF:84,321.08 vcash

Last Donation(s):Har-Tru - 10,000 vcash:
habibko - 1,000 vcash

Hall of Fame:in order of the amount of donations given

bad gambler

icedevil0289

*Ljubica*

habibko

DCM

Clay Death

JolánGagó

MrsFedex

Infini.

Stupid Dream

..::Manon::...

FedFan_2007

gio

jonathancrane

TMJordan

MacTheKnife

Pfloyd

Har-Tru

miura

cath777

mimi

Certinfy

Cloudygirl

Arend

zeleni

HeretiC

biological

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in the Castle:

Action Jackson (GWH/PMK/George): MTF Godfather and the one with the most posts, fan of Gaudio, Horna and clay court tennis.Arend: master of catch-phrases, funny as hell, Nole fan.arm: Raquel from Portugal, huge Nole fangirl.bad gambler: hugely generous donator, Fed fan(?)Babolat - Dan: Dan from UK.Betty: Betty from near Milan, Italy, all for Muzza (and her general Joh)~*BGT*~: lover of Roddick and many Frenchies.biological: Sophie from the UK, fan of Federer and Tipsarevic among others.cath777: Catherine from Canada, fan of Roger among other players.Certinfy: Jase from the UK, fan of Murray and Del Potro among others.Clay Death: The Destroyer from Mississippi, Lord of the Castle, big fan of Clay Court tennis and Nadal the Clay Monster.Cloudygirl:Tori from the UK, big fan of Gasquet and Rafa.cobalt60: Doctor Sue.Commander Data: Tom from Switzerland, Federer fan.Corey Feldman (AKA Escude): Mikey from Scotland, big Fed and Muzza fan, future General in progress.DrJules:EnriqueIG8: Javier, Federer fan.EternalxJourney: Val from NYC, USA, fan of Roger.FedFan_2007: Alex from the US, long time fan of Federer and later on Nadal, big movies and anime tard.finishingmove: Arsen the ever Noletard.gio: Maja from the USA(?), Nole fan among others (including Rafa and Roger).Groove Dude (formerly known as Blaze-2006): Jonathan from Spain, fan of Rafa among other players.habibko: Habib from Jeddah, SA, big fan of Roger.Nastasya (formerly Harmless): Maya from Croatia, mistress of slash fandom, Federer and Muller rock her world.Har-Tru: José from Spain, avid fan of Wawrinka and tennis of the good ol' days.Heners: Teenage aussie boy, fan of Nadal, Sampras and Agassi. HeretiC: MTF official tennis match analyzer, Nalby fan.icedevil0289: Usha, Federer fan.Infini. (infinityfed): Nadine from London, UK, in love with Federer and Roger's Beloved One.Jewels: Lindy from the UK, fan of Rafa.JolánGagó: Alex from Spain, big fan of Rafa.jonathancrane: Jonathan(?) no more description until he starts coming more often lolleng jai: Adrian from Melbourne, Australia, biggest Haasitard in the history of the universe and admirer of backhand slices and volleys.LinkMage: Gonzalo from Argentina, in love with Fed and vcash.*Ljubica*: Rose from London, the biggest Nole fangirl in MTF, and very proud of it too!lurker: Vicki, fan of Nadal, Djokovic and Hewitt, also likes Ferrer, retired favs are Rafter and Kuerten.MacTheKnife: Glen from the USA, avid McEnroe fan who still enjoys watching tennis.marina36: Marina from France, our resident Gasquetaire.mimi: Mimi(?) from Hong Kong, China, Rafa fan.miura: Martin from Trondheim, Norway, Roger fan.MrsFedex: Nat from Spain, proud Fedal supporter and leader of the THERE'S NO GOAT campaign.Nathaliia: Nathalia from Wroclaw(?), Poland.Nidhogg: Josef from Sweden.Pfloyd: Manuel from the US - Florida.DCM (formerly Sapeod): Daniel from Gress, Isle of Lewis, Scotland, fan of Muzza, Federer and Montanes among others.Saxoner: Matt from Canada, Roger fan, in his own words: "The Newbie that knows nothing, yet", don't worry Matt you'll get the hang of this place really fast ShotmaKer: Djou from Madagascar, fan of Federer, Rafter and Edberg.Stupid Dream: Karin from Utrecht, Netherlands, in love with Fedal.tangerine_dream: Tangy the big Roddick fan.trickcy: Lekha from India, fan of Federer.wacked82: David from (?)Yiyo: Javier from Madrid, Spain, fan of Nadal, Ferrero, Lalo and Hernandez.zeleni: Nole fan.

“The goal, when I took my break of six months, was doing this for the next couple years, not just for one tournament, I understand people who say, ‘Oh, this would be a perfect moment to go.’ But I feel like I’ve put in so much work, and I love it so much, and I still have so much in the tank.”